


Monster Guidebook

by Aryllia



Series: Arrow Ace [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Aromantic, Asexuality, Fake Science, Gen, Monsters, No humans, Slime, Worldbuilding, more tags with new chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-02 13:28:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14545746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aryllia/pseuds/Aryllia
Summary: A companion piece to the Arrow Ace series of asexual and/or aromantic monsters. Mainly because I don't want to bog down the plot(s) with too much of the worldbuilding and there will be a lot of monsters.





	1. Slimes

**Author's Note:**

> Some fake science about slimes.

Slimes are a continuous miracle in their existence. They are by all appearances giant amorphous, shapeshifting jellies living on land without anything resembling skin, skeleton or exo-skeleton and maintaining intelligence despite visibly lacking recognisable brains.

How does a creature like that not dry up in a sad immobile glob the moment it leaves water, like so many jellyfishes? 

An inherent baseline magic capacity, the same sustaining ghosts. All of it, every last murmur of magic, is used to bend reality and cheat the laws of nature just to give them a sporting chance at survival. And even then, if they are exposed t warm and dry environments they'll die. If they are frozen, they will slowly die. If they use their magic for anything beyond existing, they die. 

And yet, they stubbornly survive.

 

**Physical aspects and slimes in society**

Due to their largely amorphous nature it is often more practical to measure slime in mass than in size. Adult slimes range from 0,2 m3 (approximately one full bathtub) up to 1,5 m3, depending on how favourable the environment is. For comparison, 1 m3 is the same as 1000 literes or 264,2 gallons. Weighed as water, it is exactly one ton. Meaning that large adult slimes can be very, very heavy. Historically, gargantuan slimes f at least 15 m3 have been reported, though individuals of that size would be gravely handicapped unless they were extensively cared for by someone. 

Slimes are, as the name implies, slimy. The liquid core is protected by a gelatinous pseudo-skin which i turn is protected by a layer of mucous that can vary greatly in viscosity depending on the genetics of the particular slime as well as the environment. Neither the pseudo skin nor the mucous is very effective protection against sunlight, and many slimes end up sharing work hours with vampires. 

Of course, just like vampires have found ways to cheat the daylight, so have slimes. Environments that are particularly unsuitable to slimes may find them covered in massive full-body suits, with either cooling or heating systems built in as needed. More lightweight versions of these suits are sometimes emplyed as an aid to slimes that have difficulties maintaining a certain desired shape - either for aesthetic appeal or to more efficiently perform in their workplace.

Because of the nature of slime reproduction, the average slime won't have anything resembling a sex drive or libido. That said, they often mingle with other species and it's not unheard of for them to live in romantic and/or sexual relationships with either humour or indifference. Clinical studies have shown that they are eligible donors to bth concubi and mind eaters, though the obvious lack of blood means they can't donate to vampires. 

 

**The reproduction of slimes**

Slimes reproduce asexually through natural cloning and mutation. As such, there has never been any need for them to be sexually diverse, though they often adapt gender identities from other species either to fit in or simply as part of their personality. There is no evidence of baby slime retaining memories from their parent slime, possibly due to the mutations that the slime goes through in response to the stress of separation from the mass of the parent slime. 

In pre-modern history, a major concern of slimes wishing to reproduce was the necessity of finding a safe place for the baby to grow, as well as easily digested food for it. These days a slime parent-to-be need little more than a home, a tub, a few litres of liquid nutrients and a birth certificate. Due to the slight chance of radioactivity particularly during the mutation peaks of the growth stage, it is not considered apropriate to raise baby slimes in densely populated areas without proper safety gear.

Aspiring parents should be aware though, that not every attempt will result in a healthy baby slime, or any baby at all for that matter. You may end up mutilating yourself with nothing to show for it but lost weight and a dead blob of slime. Or, if the blob indeed does survive the trauma, the mutatins may end up doing more damage than if the baby had been a perfect tiny clone of its parent. The ethics and morals of any given action regarding disbled children is, as in any specie, a debate that will continue for some time. 

 

**Politics**

Like nearly all other intelligent species in the modern world, slimes have organisations to ensure the protction of their own and their political representation in society. For slimes, the perhaps most important social security questions are

  * Regarding the distribution of protective suits, both to slimes that intentionally live in inhospitable environments and to disaster victims after unexpected emergencies
  * Regarding the distribution of liquid nutrients to baby slimes
  * Regarding contingency measures in case of undesirable baby slime mutations (including but not limited to the aforementioned radiation and/or disabilities)
  * Regarding therapy interventions, particularly to aspiring parents who are having trouble producing viable baby slimes. 
  * Regarding the facilitation of inter-specie cooperation in favour-trade and/or common interests. 




	2. Mermaids (piscine)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Less Ariel, more giant eel with arms.

In the modern day there’s two different species referred to as mermaids. One is the mammalian half-elf chimera, artificially created 3000 years ago by the elf Aikaterine, the other is the piscine mermads whom we will be focusing on in this chapter. 

  
**Physical aspects**

Mammalian and piscine mermaids have a very similar silhouette, in regards to head, torso, arms and tail, though piscine mermaids tends towards a more streamlined silhouette. While the mammalian mermaids retain the same skin colour as land-living elves on their upper body, piscine mermaids have a natural blue-green camouflage colouration over their entire body, with no visible line between their torso and tail. The piscine mermaids have larger and rounder eyes with adipose eyelids. What historically was mistaken for hair from a distance is the dorsal fin.

Piscine mermaids are further divided in shallows mermaids, who rarely grow larger than 1,6 meters, and deep sea mermaids who have been measured up to nearly 4 meters.  In regards to sexual dimorphism, females are notably larger than males, with a more dramatic size difference in deep sea mermaids than in shallows mermaids. Shallows mermaids also have a slight difference in colouration between the sexes, males tending towards more vibrant metallic colours, while females are more muted, often speckled.

 

**The reproduction of mermaids**

Piscine mermaids of all kinds are very disinclined towards sharing information about their reproduction or their society in general, but we know that they lay eggs which are fertilized externally, and we know that at least shallows mermaids hide their eggs in the sand near beaches. It is widely speculated that deep sea mermaids either migrate to the shallows for reproduction or construct floating nests out of debris where the eggs can be hidden in the warm surface waters.

 

**Politics**

One major reason for the depressing lack of information is the seemingly global policy of “what happens under water, stays under water”. There is definitely at least one highly refined system at play to facilitate cooperation between the intelligent underwater species, there is evidence of societies complex enough that it would be an absolute necessity. For the past 280 years, all intelligent life under water have been spoken for by the Representative Ambassadors, who negotiate with land governments in practical matters. These matter are mainly

  * The distribution of fishing permits, fishing areas and fishing quotas.
  * The distribution of cargo and travel permits.
  * The university cooperation program with its "mutually acceptable" courses, which are closely monitored. 



If one thing has been made clear to us, it's that the Representatives are not in favour of free speech. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do you explain traditionally haf-human monsters in a world without humans?   
> Elves. Elves did it.


End file.
